


Beauty (Utsukushisa)

by MidoriKurenaiYume



Series: Future (Mirai) [3]
Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Dialogue, F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Pets, Romance, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-05-05 18:50:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14624880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriKurenaiYume/pseuds/MidoriKurenaiYume
Summary: Having agreed to be in a relationship with Gilgamesh, Arturia learns that it's truly not that bad.(sequel to Eden)





	Beauty (Utsukushisa)

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place a few months after the end of the fic Eden and is the last part of the series 'Future (Mirai)'; thank you to Christy for suggesting a few ideas ;)
> 
> Title: from a Kalafina song, B-side of their 6th single; the lyrics of the song have been translated by the canta-per-me forum ;)

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~The drops of stars I grabbed~

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Her nose and cheeks reddened by the cold, Arturia walked into the house, careful with her shoes and coat, which were covered in snow. She shook it off at the entrance as she began to remove her damp garments, doing her best to avoid making a mess.

She was sweaty, having been shovelling snow for a good part of an hour, but she was freezing at the same time, therefore she was very much looking forward to a hot shower.

She had barely managed to take off her scarf when she felt a pair of warm and familiar lips pressing against hers. She knew that her skin was icy, but Gilgamesh didn’t seem to care at all as he kept kissing her contentedly and passionately.

Eventually, however, she pulled back, shaking her head at him and briefly touching her face, finding that it was still extremely cold.

“You will freeze if you touch me right now,” she warned him, rubbing her previously gloved hands together, attempting to create some warmth.

Gilgamesh, still in his nightclothes – not surprisingly, as it was still early in the morning – seemed completely relaxed and uncaring of her state, because he leaned forward and enveloped her in an embrace, nuzzling her cheek contentedly.

“There was no need for you to get up so early,” he told her, ignoring her steadily weakening protests as his arms tightened slightly around her. “And you certainly didn’t need to shovel the snow in front of the house all on your own.”

“Gilgamesh, you will get snow on your clothes and get cold too–”

“I don’t care,” he replied easily, then adding, “Do you really believe there’s anyone better than me at warming you up?”

There were a few minutes of silence as he kissed her once again, holding her even closer, until he swiftly began to unbutton her winter coat and moved his mouth downwards.

She could feel him produce a small grin as his lips traced her neck slowly.

“Although I can’t complain about the healthy complexion you obtained through such an exercise. You look absolutely beautiful.”

He put some distance between them only in order to help her take off the rest of her coat, smirking at her almost imperceptible blush because of his antics and then pulled her towards the kitchen. There, Arturia was completely astounded at seeing a steaming cup of hot chocolate waiting for her.

“You don’t want to get sick, I presume?” he casually commented, kissing her forehead briefly as she still stared in slight shock.

Seeing her continued disbelief, he didn’t become angry, instead giving her a small, fond smile. “It is interesting to still be able to surprise you whenever I do something you would call _considerate_.”

Arturia shook herself from her state of bewildered shock and gave him a measuring glance, before unexpectedly smiling back at him.

“That is rather unfair of me,” she conceded, with complete honesty. “I simply… haven’t got used to it, at least not yet.”

He was giving her a knowing look as she sat down and brought the cup to her lips, starting to take slow sips in order to savour the warmth.

His words held a confident promise as he countered, “You will.”

…

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~The things shining in the distance~

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…

When Illya first brought up the subject of pets, neither of the two adults took her too seriously. She was in some ways still healing from her mother’s loss, and that meant that she had the tendency to want to experience new things without giving them careful thought first.

But during the following months, Illya kept expressing her wish for a pet. Even as time went by, Arturia was still somewhat unconvinced of the girl’s earnestness in her request, as she believed her interest to be a temporary one, and therefore didn’t give anything more than a noncommittal answer to Illya’s insistence.

She noticed then however that she had been wrong: her adopted daughter desired a pet while being fully conscious of the responsibilities that came with it, and she was prepared to face them all.

Once that was ascertained, Arturia found herself having to broach the subject with Gilgamesh to give it proper thought and consideration. As expected, it led to long discussions and arguments that only ended once they managed to reach a compromise.

Strangely enough, the compromise wasn’t on having a pet; it was on _which_ pet, and since they couldn’t settle on that, they of course ended up getting _two_.

Illya was already outside playing, presumably ruining her school uniform beyond any possible attempt at cleaning it, together with her new ‘friends’, named Anna and Elsa after the characters of a movie she had become enamoured with, while Arturia kept an eye on her from the kitchen window. She still couldn’t believe that this had been the outcome of their quarrel.

“Stop being so disbelieving, Arturia,” Gilgamesh growled from near her. “It’s very simple. Illya wanted a pet. You were in favour of a dog, because it’s a loyal animal. I preferred a cat, because it’s a _smart_ animal.”

She snorted at his remark, but chose not to comment on it and simply finished in his place, “So in the end, we got _both_.”

She watched their cat happily climb on one of the trees, immediately followed by both Illya and the dog, obviously with varying degrees of success. “I doubt there is going to be one single moment of peace and quiet from now on.”

He looked deeply amused and came closer to her, carefully putting an arm around her waist and, not meeting any resistance, pulling her to him. She allowed it, leaning against him. They had been having several arguments about the pets during the past few days, but it seemed that they had now found a truce.

He muttered in her hair, “If you had truly wanted a life of peace and quiet, you wouldn’t have adopted the girl in the first place.”

Arturia furrowed her brow slightly, turning her head in order to meet his eyes.

“What are you–…”

He soothed her frown with a feather-like touch, his fingers lingering on her face for a few moments longer than necessary.

“I’m saying that peacefulness and generosity don’t often go together,” he explained simply. “There is a price to pay for everything, including altruism – even when it comes naturally to some people,” he added, nudging her nose with his. “All that has to be decided is whether or not such a price is fair.”

Arturia’s eyes went to the girl playing outside with the pets, running around and laughing in a completely happy and carefree manner. She then looked back at the man against whom she was leaning, and she smiled.

“It’s not a price at all,” she affirmed, her smile widening by the second.

Gilgamesh remained completely focused on her bright eyes and dazzling smile for a long moment, before smiling back at her.

“Indeed,” he murmured in reply, before he couldn’t resist anymore and captured her lips in a kiss.

…

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~The beauty still untouched~

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Illya had insisted and begged to help with the preparations, and Arturia had eventually given in, knowing that the child could be hopelessly stubborn when she wanted.

Besides, in the occasion at present her help was not unwelcome.

When she had finally decided to accept Gilgamesh’s proposal, she had made it clear that she refused to have a big, extravagant wedding. For her, saying yes was already enough to consider them husband and wife, and to her slight surprise, it was the same for him; but to make it official, something more was required. Reluctantly, Arturia had agreed, but only on the condition that it was to be kept _simple_.

She would have already started to regret having allowed Illya to ‘help’ her, if the girl hadn’t shown to be completely cooperative. Wedding dresses were supposed to be white and elegant, but Arturia had not been in favour of it, choosing her most comfortable and favourite clothes instead. Illya had oddly agreed, focusing however on the bouquet rather than the supposedly proper attire.

Bouquets were usually in faint, delicate colours, but her adopted daughter was choosing a multi-coloured combination of blue, red and bright yellow flowers, assembling them together with concentrated effort.

When Arturia pointed this out to her, Illya’s dark red eyes looked at her earnestly.

“The feeble colours wouldn’t be _you_ , Arturia,” she said, completely serious. “You and Uncle Gil are very outspoken and very complicated. Colourful is who you are, and that is what your bouquet should represent – not an unrealistic portrait of people you are not.”

Arturia couldn’t help smiling in slight amazement at the girl’s accurate description, and allowed her free reign over the composition of her bouquet without any more interference.

Once she was done, Illya presented it to her proudly, before grabbing her hand and almost dragging her out of the room. Gilgamesh was already waiting outside with a judge, his arms crossed and some very faint traces of anxiety on his face.

Illya ran forward to hug him before going to stand to the side, cat and dog next to her as well, while Arturia offered her future husband a smile. She was almost surprised by how determined she was suddenly feeling about getting married to him.

He returned her smile, and without needing any prompt, she then spontaneously extended her hand for him to take.

As he took it and briefly brought it to his lips for a fleeting but intense kiss, she stared at him intently, making up her mind. When he let her go, she surprised all the people present by leaning forward, standing on her tiptoes and meeting his mouth in an abrupt and unrestrained gesture.

One that, given their current nuptials, was certainly going to become much more common from then on.

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~Daybreak’s beauty~

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**Author's Note:**

> Anna and Elsa are obviously characters from the movie Frozen ;) I figured Illya would be a fan :P  
> Thank you so much for reading!! :D


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